Thinking of opening a field

Hello everyone I am currently going to school to learn how to run a business and want to open a paintball field. I was just wondering what kinds of things that you like in a field and what you don't like, and plus I figured MN is diffrent than most southern states so just shoot me any ideas you may have within reason. Thanks

lawsuit nightmare. if possible do indoor/outdoor because it gets cold up in MN. movie/video game maps are fun for all. use good props for woodsball and what not,but have speedball too. custom 98's are always good rental guns but people like pistols and automatic gun run through more paint which is always a plus. have your friends come before it opens and tell them to give suggestions. try to keep it cheap if possible and hire the best staff. make it fun for pros and beginners. hopped this helped

Make sure you have birthday party deals. This is how a lot of kids get into paintball and is how i entered the sport. Like MIkeman said, automatic rentals (phenom) lead to people shooting a lot more paint which mean more $$$. Have different types of rentals. This is how the field i go to (PBE) is so successful. They rent out 98s, pistols, phenoms, and Crossovers. Have the 98 be the cheapest and the crossover be the most expensive. Now moving on to fields. Have indoor AND Outdoor. This will attract the maximum amount of people. For the indoor let it be just speedball. You could also setup one outdoor airball field. However, save outdoor primarily for woods ball. I know beginners typically enjoy playing woods ball more because everything is spread out more and they don't get shot from as close as in airball. Follow the steps of PBE. They have indoor and outdoor and both airball and woodsball. If you want, you can also have special team practice hours. For example paintball explosion has these from 5-10pm on saturday with cheap paint. Try as hard as you can to not price paint at $90. The main reason i don't go to OHARE paintball is that it is $90 +tax for paint. And $15 for entry. Good luck with you field!

Thanks guys. I was going to do outdoors during the summer and indoors for the winter. And will for sure have relatively cheap paint. I like the idea of different rentals. If you think of more things let me know.

Dont try and make all your revenue by marking up your paint too much. Offer different grades starting around $45 a case. Offer 1-day a week when its BYOP. Open a small bar if you can, there is a lot of money to made from concessions. Definitely have an indoor speedball field with minimum time between matches, people run through paint on these fields like water.

Know your market BEFORE you start investing money. A lot of fields in MN have shut down in the last few years, for various reasons. Mostly from a lack of revenue coming in. You need to know how you are going to be better than the others in the area.

I live in mn and all of the fields are FPO and cost 80$ for a case. Special forces in Buffalo is byop, and even though the fields are rarely cleaned and upkept, the field is packed because you don't have to blow your money on paint. Make sure it has an option for byop. Maybe charge 10$ extra for entry if you bring your own paint. Do you have any idea on where the field is going to be located?

Going back to what I said.... research the market. There may be a reason for this. You could well find that your rent kills you off without higher paint pricing.

The ONLY reason Special Forces is still alive as a business is because they have ZERO land costs. It's all family owned land they already have/had, so they don't need to keep paying the landlord or the bank. That, and they never upkeep their field. It used to be a pretty fun place to play but it's gotten really run down.

If you're willing to drive about as far as SF is from the cities, look at Splat Tag just across the border in Hudson, WI. It's around 60/case (at least, for their big game it is) FPO but the field is about a hundred times better than Special Forces. Seriously.

While owning the land the field is on is ideal you still need to consider how much property tax you will be paying. Depending on size, area its located, access to utilities, zoning etc. the yearly taxes can get up there. Speaking of zoning, you will need to find a location that is zoned for commercial recreation (our your states equivalent) or easily re-zoned as such. Agricultural land is VERY difficult to rezone for some reason.

If you do the math for initial start-up costs (land, structures, inventory, air system, safety equipment etc.) expect to double it. Basically if you find you need 100k to start, go ask the bank for 200k. there are a number of reasons for this. You WONT be profitable right away, I have heard fields taking as long as 2 years before they start turning a profit. Paying off the loans, gaining popularity/customer base etc. Plus if its your only job you will need some way to survive until you do turn a profit.

Paint prices: as much as we all love BYOP or at least reasonable FPO prices, sometimes it just isnt possible. You have bills, loans and field maiintanance/staff to pay for. Using the above example of 200k. If you only make $5000 a month it will take 40 months just to pay of the principal of the loan. Still would have all the interest to pay off. This doesnt factor in payroll, and the rest of your expenses. Will it cost 200k to start? maybe not, but you kinda get the idea. You wont be popular at the start of things, simply because your new. Even with top notch staff, fields and reasonable prices it will take time. I think this is why alot of fields tank is because they cant make enough to cover costs initially. They raise their prices to catch up but the attendance suffers as a result.

I worked at a field in central MN, but it has closed in the past year. But A big thing in MN is indoor play, one of the reasons the field I worked at closed is because of weather. We had a killer season its last year that it was actually open, better than the previous 2 season combined, but the next year the field was flooded and it was nothing but mud through the whole peak of the season.

Another thing that can attract people, is a "hangout" area, dark side in SD had one of these, they had a ps2 hooked up for kids after school. Make it open to public viewing, allowing people to just walk in and watch some people in a game can encourage them to try it, and if you have concessions they might spend money there too. You want to be as welcoming as possible, to anyone. We once had a group of 30 Somalis, all of them understood english but I believe only 6 or 7 spoke it, it was a long 4 hours, but everyone had a good time, and there were no troublemakers.

If you have indoors you can control the climate, it may be a little spendy, but it could make more people want to come back vs go else where, also broadens the types of games you can play, like black light paintball, where you have bunkers outlined in black light paint along with markings on the field that will glow in the black light, pair that with light colored shells and it can be an awesome time.

Open play! Don't forget about having it! Its not always busy on open play days, but it helps attract new people to try it out, host special open play days to draw bigger crowds. Also not a bad idea to have BYOP with an additional charge, that way you get money from that plus they get to use their favorite paint, unless it is a type that you do not allow.. Plus! if they run out you will then be able to sell them yours.

With where our sport is, you want things to attract people as well as things to keep them coming back, something to help with that is go to other fields in the area on open play days and find the regulars and ask why they keep coming back.

Well, the bussiness tips above are great I will give field ideas. You definately want a mix. Also the idea of different rental packages is great. You might want a pro shop later on. Also sell drinks as well as food. Also maybe rent out pods as some new players might want to shoot off some extra paint. The tippmann 98s sound like a good rental option because of how durable they are. Definately have a cheaper paint such as the hotbox which is at my field going up to some more expensive ones like heat or premium. The reason it's all rps is because there is a factory nearby my field which is in the south. Might make a difference but I don't know

there are so many field with bad staff and reffs. An indoor and outdoor field would be a plus living in MN so you can be open year round. Standard rental (98 custom, steelie tank, mask) 3000 psi and 4500 psi fill station. chrono. woodsball and speedball. good field props for woodsball. It is always helpful to have a trained tech. A cross between Air Assault, Vintage, and Splat Tag would be the perfect field.

I live in MN, and I can say that a lot of people are ok with playing outside in the "mild" cold as well. Nothing wrong with having open outdoor games in the winter, but having the indoor option is a must. A pro shop would be a plus, selling parts/upgrades would be helpful. The idea of having a hang out area is a great idea. Maybe use a one way mirror/glass wall so people can watch indoor play while sitting around socializing. A bar/food is a good idea but be careful there, that's a whole business of its own. Maybe look in to leasing out your "kitchen space" as an increased revenue if you have no restaurant experience.
Location is going to be key in any business, the area north of the twin cities has minimal places to play.
Best of luck to you in your endeavors!